Fellow swimmer Aaron Piersol
coined the term, thinking
"Spitzian," which used to mean
the same thing, was as passe as
Mark Spitz's ample '70s mustache.

One could say it's all but
Phelpsian, how fast the new
word has slipped into the lexicon.

By yesterday morning, the
word had produced nearly
5,000 Google hits and its own
Wikipedia entry.

It's too soon for The Global
Language Monitor, a Texasbased
company that tracks language
trends, to register the
word. But Paul JJ Payack, its
president and "chief word analyst,"
considers Phelpsian to be
"an excellent word that works."

"It works in the sense that that
other product of Baltimore,
Ruth-ian, works," he said. "It
has a certain, let's say, melodic
sound to it. This is unlike Unitas-
ian or Ripken-ian or, even,
Poe-ian, which come across as
both unfamiliar and nearly unpronounceable."

But before the Beijing games
end, the dictionary might have
to make room for even more
original words.

Consider:

Spitz: adj. Something outdated.
Such as: Those shoulder
pads are so spitz.

Torres v. To excel at something
one is supposed to be too
old for. (See Dara Torres, who at
41 not only earned a spot on the
Olympic swim team, but won
three silver medals.)

Chinese gymnast v. To sneak
into something you're too young
for. Such as: Johnny totally Chinesegymnasted
into that bar --
he's not even close to 21!

Costas v. To overdramatize a
situation, usually in a grave tone
of voice. Such as: Morgan Freeman
has really costased some of
those Olympics Visa ads.

Debbie Phelps n. Mom busting
with pride. Such as: She was
such a debbiephelps when her
daughter took her first steps.